Tampa Southern Railroad
 Former Bradenton passenger depot, which is now a medical clinic | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Reporting mark | TAS |
| Dates of operation | 1917–1967 |
| Successor | Atlantic Coast Line Railroad |
The Tampa Southern Railroad was a subsidiary of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad originally running from Uceta Yard in downtown Tampa south to Palmetto, Bradenton, and Sarasota with a later extension southeast to Southfort, Florida (near Fort Ogden in the Peace River valley) built shortly after. It was one of many rail lines built during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Most of the remaining trackage (between Tampa and Bradenton) now serves as CSX Transportation's Palmetto Subdivision. [1][2] Another short portion just east of Sarasota also remains that now serves as Seminole Gulf Railway's Matoaka branch.
History
The Tampa Southern Railroad was first incorporated in 1917 as a subsidiary of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. It principally competed with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad's parallel route that ran from Durant to Venice which was completed earlier in 1911. The Tampa Southern's tracks were completed to Sarasota by May 1924, and the first passenger train arrived in Sarasota in December of that year.[3]
The Tampa Southern began at the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Uceta Yard in Tampa and ran south, paralleling the east shore of Tampa Bay. Just northeast of Palmetto, a loop was constructed through Ellenton to serve agricultural growers. Known as the "Ellenton Belt Line", the now abandoned loop branched off the main line near Rubonia and ran in a roughly rectangular trajectory through Ellenton before returning to the main line in Palmetto. A short spur to Terra Ceia, which is now abandoned, also existed near this area.[4]
South of Palmetto, the tracks crossed the Manatee River on a bascule bridge into Bradenton, with Bradenton's passenger depot (which still stands today and serves as a medical clinic[5]) built just south of the bridge. The tracks then turned southeast for a short distance and crossed the Seaboard line before turning south again and into Sarasota near Fruitville. A spur to the Payne Terminal at Hog Creek existed just north of the Sarasota passenger depot (which was located at Main Street and School Avenue).[6]
Extension to Southfort
By 1927, the line extended as far south as Southfort in Desoto County. From the Sarasota depot, the line turned east through Fruitville, briefly running directly beside the Seaboard line before its southerly turn towards Venice. Once out of Sarasota, the line turned southeast passing through Utopia before crossing the Myakka River and continung through Honore and Sidell. It crossed the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway and the Peace River just before entering Southfort, where it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's line from Lakeland to Fort Myers and Naples. In addition to serving freight customers along the line, the Southfort extension frequently served as a shortcut for passenger trains traveling from Tampa to Fort Myers and Naples. Most of the Southfort extension was removed by 1949 and the line was truncated at Belspur (just east of Fruitville).[7]
Mergers
In 1967, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad merged with the Seaboard Air Line to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. Connections were established between the Tampa Southern and the Seaboard route in a number of locations. The merger also resulted in the removal of the Seaboard Air Line's swing bridge over the Manatee River (which was located a short distance upstream of both the Tampa Southern's bascule bridge and the Desoto Bridge). The city of Bradenton unsuccessfully attempted to have the Seaboard Coast Line remove the Tampa Southern bridge instead since it went right through downtown Bradenton's waterfront.[8]
The Tampa Southern route then became the Seaboard Coast Line's main route for all trains between Palmetto and Tampa including Tropicana's Juice Train (which was originally operated by the Seaboard Air Line), since it provided a more direct route to the Tampa yards. The Seaboard Coast Line would later merge with the Chessie System in 1980 which created CSX Transportation. The Seaboard's original route between Durant and Willow was removed by CSX in 1986, leaving the Tampa Southern route as the only thru route.[9]
Current Operations
|}
Today only two portions of the Tampa Southern Railroad remain. The most notable segment remaining is the portion from Tampa to Bradenton (to a point near the Tropicana Juice Plant). A vast majority of this portion comprises CSX's Palmetto Subdivision, with the northernmost five miles being part of the Tampa Terminal Subdivision. Tropicana's Juice Train continues to be the most consistent service on the line today.
Portions of the former Seaboard Air Line route also remain and now serve as branches to the Palmetto Subdivision, including the spur to Parrish (which serves the Florida Railroad Museum). At the Tropicana Juice Plant (where the Tampa Southern tracks now end), the Palmetto Subdivision continues south via the Seaboard route a short distance to Oneco where it connects to the Seminole Gulf Railway, who operates the remaining Seaboard trackage south through Sarasota.
Seminole Gulf operates the only other remaining trackage of the Tampa Southern just east of Downtown Sarasota. It is part of their branch from Fruitville to Matoaka. U.S. 301 now runs on the roughly 5-mile abandoned segment between the two portions.
See also
References
- ^ http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/PT-Palmetto_Sub CSX Palmetto Sub
- ^ http://www.multimodalways.org/docs/railroads/companies/CSX/CSX%20ETTs/CSX%20Jacksonville%20Div%20ETT%20%234%201-1-2005.pdf CSX Jacksonville Division Timetable
- ^ "Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Depot". Sarasota County (official website). Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ Turner, Gregg M. (2003). A Short History of Florida Railroads. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-2421-4.
- ^ "Train Depot in Bradenton". Charlotte County, Florida: History Collections Online. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ "Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Depot". Sarasota History Alive!. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ Turner, Gregg M. (December 1, 1999). Railroads of Southwest Florida. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing.
- ^ "Seaboard and Bradenton Have Dispute Over Manatee River Trestles". Sarasota Herald Tribune. 12 June 1969. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ "The Sarasota Subdivision". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 22 December 2013.